denverpilot
Tied Down
Did you know that on the old flush Cessna breakers that can’t be pulled out, that even though they’re sealed in their little boxes, if you’re looking at them at night when they pop, you can see the arc flash through the white press button?
Neither did I until tonight. LOL.
So to set the stage I flew a couple of flights this afternoon and evening in the 182 after we did an oil change. One day XC to FNL to practice a few STOL takeoffs at an uncontrolled field and one night XC for currency and to spend some more time messing with the GTN 650.
So off I toodle to KFMM to go fly the RNAV 14 while also looking out the window, but at night. I want to run through all the procedures like I’m flying the approach but still have somewhat of an outside reference for the runway and do it all from the right seat. Let’s see how hard this is from over there.
So I’m bombing along and somewhere along the line I see a little haze and my brain says “turn on the pitot heat, it’s night and you don’t need any new problems while you’re doing this...” Little did I know I was setting myself up for one. Ha.
Now this flight is really to just get IFR procedures moving in my head again. Feel the flow. Get the zen thing going again. You know. Do all the stuff in the right order. I’m going to be doing an IPC and then prep for the CFII soon so this is “get the brain thinking this way again.”
So this is all going well. I even remember to click on the runway lights well before I need them but not too soon, etc. Procedures and checklist going well and flying the airplane fine. Yay. (It’s also not too awful doing it from the right seat...)
I fly the T transition and get some much needed GTN time getting that all set up. Cool. Works great. Turn final the ten miles or so out and hold the needles and capture the glide slope and then as I’m making a CTAF announcement...
A bright flash from the far right breaker and the cockpit is still lit and all the radios are on but it’s a little dimmer. “High Voltage” light it glowing dimly.
Okay I’ve seen that before when we needed a new Voltage regulator. I level off and keep heading for the runway (maybe I’m landing maybe I’m not. In hindsight I probably should have climbed to the MSA but I knew I had no obstacles and I was still at roughly pattern altitude still.
I know that breaker is the 60A buss breaker from the alternator. I’m on battery power only. Okay... let’s assess here. The battery is pushing 6 years old and has exhibited some signs of early weakness. We’ve been talking about replacing it but the weather got warmer and it’s starting and running fine but turns over the prop just a little slower than usual. (We’ve been thinking it would last the summer and replace in the fall.)
Okay. Do I smell smoke? No. Fire or burnt wires? No. That breaker just popped. Okay I know the rules... load shed and reset it once. If it won’t stay in don’t keep trying. So I start load shedding. I also have thoughts of ... “Hmm. I’ve never practiced getting the fire extinguisher out from this seat nor even thought of the fact that I might have to pull it out in the dark, pull the pin, and fight an under panel fire in the dark.” Just one of those thoughts that goes through your head. I think I’ll practice getting it out from over there sometime soon.
Anyway. I load shed. Radio two off, panel string lights off, switch to the one bulb overhead red for now and dim it, landing light and taxi light, work may hand across the switches. Don’t need strobes. Leave the nav lights and beacon on for now.
Ah! Pitot heat! OFF. Okay.
That tells me what’s likely up.
Either the breaker is old and weak and popped too soon or I’m drawing right at something close to 60 amps and I have the cockpit heat pretty warm like I usually do solo at night and that doesn’t help breakers much, or both.
I suspect the breaker pops a little sooner than 60A. I’ll double check and count up all the crap on that bus later in daylight and make sure the avionics folks haven’t overloaded it, but I doubt it.
By this point I’ve over flown the airport down the runway at pattern altitude and started a climb back toward Denver.
The thought here is the FMM is the armpit of nowhere late on a Sunday night and getting stuck there wouldn’t be all that fun. But if I have to land, I will.
If this panel isn’t on fire though, I’m going to fly this thing home, all I have to do is turn off everything, fly by flashlight and save this iffy battery for the transponder at the Mode C ring and the radio for calling the Tower and let them know I may lose electrical and get a landing clearance early. It’ll be dead quiet landing at midnight anyway so thatll work fine. Maybe a landing light back home if it’ll do it, but I really don’t care. I’ve landed without it.
Two things are not along on this night flight that usually are. My handheld radio and my headlamp. I usually fly at night with a headlamp on my head but not turned on. Works great for pre-flight and also great in the cockpit if needed. But, this whole idea to fly at night came up as I landed with the sun already set and in twilight on the day flight and I realized I want to get night current and also fly another approach or two.
I’ve got everything off and push the breaker back in. The overhead light gets a little brighter, ammeter shows a charge, life is good. It holds. I fly a little further toward Denver and decide, “Okay this is working. I’m going to go back and finish that approach.”
Turn around and go fly it again, all is well. Do a stop and go and another and head for home. A crosswind so good night landing practice. 080@9 for Runway 14. Nice.
Anyway head back home and no problems. Well other than the continuous light chop within 25 miles of Denver or so.
So, as NASA would say, we finally did the “full up” test like we were flying in the soup at night and the airplane showed a weakness. Pitot heat plus all lights plus all radios means, pop goes the weasel. The weak-ish battery probably isn’t helping things any. But it had plenty of time to charge up on the day XC and all that time on the way out to FMM and the ammeter was not showing a significant charge.
Nope. I think we have a weak bus breaker and it can’t handle rated load. Going to have to think about getting it tested or just replaced. Having that happen on an actual approach, I wouldn’t enjoy too much.
That little arc flash through the breaker button itself was a surprise. Sitting in the right seat you can easily see the breakers. Not as easy to see that in the left seat. It’ll sure get your attention when you see a bright flash and then stuff goes dimmer than usual. Hmmm.
About four and a half hours of “fun” punctuated by one moment of “stark terror” as the old saying goes.
Neither did I until tonight. LOL.
So to set the stage I flew a couple of flights this afternoon and evening in the 182 after we did an oil change. One day XC to FNL to practice a few STOL takeoffs at an uncontrolled field and one night XC for currency and to spend some more time messing with the GTN 650.
So off I toodle to KFMM to go fly the RNAV 14 while also looking out the window, but at night. I want to run through all the procedures like I’m flying the approach but still have somewhat of an outside reference for the runway and do it all from the right seat. Let’s see how hard this is from over there.
So I’m bombing along and somewhere along the line I see a little haze and my brain says “turn on the pitot heat, it’s night and you don’t need any new problems while you’re doing this...” Little did I know I was setting myself up for one. Ha.
Now this flight is really to just get IFR procedures moving in my head again. Feel the flow. Get the zen thing going again. You know. Do all the stuff in the right order. I’m going to be doing an IPC and then prep for the CFII soon so this is “get the brain thinking this way again.”
So this is all going well. I even remember to click on the runway lights well before I need them but not too soon, etc. Procedures and checklist going well and flying the airplane fine. Yay. (It’s also not too awful doing it from the right seat...)
I fly the T transition and get some much needed GTN time getting that all set up. Cool. Works great. Turn final the ten miles or so out and hold the needles and capture the glide slope and then as I’m making a CTAF announcement...
A bright flash from the far right breaker and the cockpit is still lit and all the radios are on but it’s a little dimmer. “High Voltage” light it glowing dimly.
Okay I’ve seen that before when we needed a new Voltage regulator. I level off and keep heading for the runway (maybe I’m landing maybe I’m not. In hindsight I probably should have climbed to the MSA but I knew I had no obstacles and I was still at roughly pattern altitude still.
I know that breaker is the 60A buss breaker from the alternator. I’m on battery power only. Okay... let’s assess here. The battery is pushing 6 years old and has exhibited some signs of early weakness. We’ve been talking about replacing it but the weather got warmer and it’s starting and running fine but turns over the prop just a little slower than usual. (We’ve been thinking it would last the summer and replace in the fall.)
Okay. Do I smell smoke? No. Fire or burnt wires? No. That breaker just popped. Okay I know the rules... load shed and reset it once. If it won’t stay in don’t keep trying. So I start load shedding. I also have thoughts of ... “Hmm. I’ve never practiced getting the fire extinguisher out from this seat nor even thought of the fact that I might have to pull it out in the dark, pull the pin, and fight an under panel fire in the dark.” Just one of those thoughts that goes through your head. I think I’ll practice getting it out from over there sometime soon.
Anyway. I load shed. Radio two off, panel string lights off, switch to the one bulb overhead red for now and dim it, landing light and taxi light, work may hand across the switches. Don’t need strobes. Leave the nav lights and beacon on for now.
Ah! Pitot heat! OFF. Okay.
That tells me what’s likely up.
Either the breaker is old and weak and popped too soon or I’m drawing right at something close to 60 amps and I have the cockpit heat pretty warm like I usually do solo at night and that doesn’t help breakers much, or both.
I suspect the breaker pops a little sooner than 60A. I’ll double check and count up all the crap on that bus later in daylight and make sure the avionics folks haven’t overloaded it, but I doubt it.
By this point I’ve over flown the airport down the runway at pattern altitude and started a climb back toward Denver.
The thought here is the FMM is the armpit of nowhere late on a Sunday night and getting stuck there wouldn’t be all that fun. But if I have to land, I will.
If this panel isn’t on fire though, I’m going to fly this thing home, all I have to do is turn off everything, fly by flashlight and save this iffy battery for the transponder at the Mode C ring and the radio for calling the Tower and let them know I may lose electrical and get a landing clearance early. It’ll be dead quiet landing at midnight anyway so thatll work fine. Maybe a landing light back home if it’ll do it, but I really don’t care. I’ve landed without it.
Two things are not along on this night flight that usually are. My handheld radio and my headlamp. I usually fly at night with a headlamp on my head but not turned on. Works great for pre-flight and also great in the cockpit if needed. But, this whole idea to fly at night came up as I landed with the sun already set and in twilight on the day flight and I realized I want to get night current and also fly another approach or two.
I’ve got everything off and push the breaker back in. The overhead light gets a little brighter, ammeter shows a charge, life is good. It holds. I fly a little further toward Denver and decide, “Okay this is working. I’m going to go back and finish that approach.”
Turn around and go fly it again, all is well. Do a stop and go and another and head for home. A crosswind so good night landing practice. 080@9 for Runway 14. Nice.
Anyway head back home and no problems. Well other than the continuous light chop within 25 miles of Denver or so.
So, as NASA would say, we finally did the “full up” test like we were flying in the soup at night and the airplane showed a weakness. Pitot heat plus all lights plus all radios means, pop goes the weasel. The weak-ish battery probably isn’t helping things any. But it had plenty of time to charge up on the day XC and all that time on the way out to FMM and the ammeter was not showing a significant charge.
Nope. I think we have a weak bus breaker and it can’t handle rated load. Going to have to think about getting it tested or just replaced. Having that happen on an actual approach, I wouldn’t enjoy too much.
That little arc flash through the breaker button itself was a surprise. Sitting in the right seat you can easily see the breakers. Not as easy to see that in the left seat. It’ll sure get your attention when you see a bright flash and then stuff goes dimmer than usual. Hmmm.
About four and a half hours of “fun” punctuated by one moment of “stark terror” as the old saying goes.
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